ENJOYING their best-ever start to a Premier League season and closing on yet another qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League, things would appear to be going well for Liverpool.
But scratch beneath the surface at Anfield and it’s clear something has to change.
Wednesday’s woeful Carling Cup capitulation at Tottenham Hotspur should have sent the alarm bells ringing throughout the club.
While Arsenal’s youngsters continue to thrill in the competition, Rafael Benitez is evidently finding it a struggle to find any of a similar standard either at home or abroad.
Lacking the financial resources that allowed Arsene Wenger to snap up the cream of the world’s budding talent in recent years, Benitez’s attempts to unearth a rare gem of his own from across the globe means there are nearly 30 youngsters at the club under the age of 23.
Few of those hopefuls realistically have any chance of ever forging a career at Anfield.
However, the alternative production line at the Academy, another profitable source for Wenger, is proving just as fruitless.
After all, why did Benitez see fit to select only one recent homegrown graduate, reserve team skipper Stephen Darby, in the squad for Wednesday’s trip to White Hart Lane in a competition that is a long way last in the manager’s list of priorities?
Of course, this situation hasn’t just happened overnight. Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier was regularly at loggerheads with the Academy over the lack of quality emerging from the Kirkby set-up.
Benitez has used the Carling Cup to give youth its chance at Anfield, most notably on his previous visit to Tottenham in the competition in December 2004 when eight homegrown players made an appearance.
But it’s telling that none are still at the club with only Stephen Warnock plying his trade in the top flight.
Punters who hit the internet message boards and radio phone-ins to lambast Wednesday’s performance as one of the worst they have ever seen from Liverpool certainly have short memories.
Don’t forget, it was less than two years ago that the Anfield outfit were humbled 6-3 at home by Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
Carling Cup exits have proven a watershed during previous seasons under Benitez, particularly for the young hopefuls selected.
After losing at Crystal Palace in 2005, David Raven and Zak Whitbread never played for Liverpool again while Darren Potter made only one further appearance.
And the Arsenal humbling in January 2007 saw a last outing for Lee Peltier, with Danny Guthrie only playing one more time and Gabriel Paletta three times.
It was also a final appearance for Warnock, who joined Blackburn Rovers shortly afterwards.
Ominous signs, then, for the likes of David Ngog, Nabil El Zhar and Damien Plessis, who all played at White Hart Lane.
But the trio weren’t helped by the performances and attitude of some of their senior professionals on Wednesday.
Philipp Degen in particular demonstrated little appetite for the fight and the sight of him hobbling off with yet another injury may be the last time he is seen in a Liver-pool shirt. Darby is surely a better long-term bet.
Liverpool’s Academy may be located six miles from Melwood but it could just as easily be in another country and not just because of the accents that echo around the corridors these days.
Co-operation between the two complexes does not exist, simply cynicism of what each other is trying to achieve when they should be chasing the same goal.
There is no doubt that some people at the Academy will have relished the sight of Ngog, Plessis and El Zhar toiling – which in itself is an even bigger disgrace – without offering up a solution to the problem themselves.
Manchester City can churn out talent and Everton can churn out English talent that, even if they do not prove good enough, would raise some money. Nothing is coming from Kirkby.
Liverpool’s board cannot keep on ignoring the situation by refusing to take sides for fear of upsetting people.
Both sides need shaking up for the common good of the club and it amounts to a dereliction of duty that the status quo is being allowed to fester.
The Academy has other difficulties, as highlighted last month by Sunderland manager Roy Keane.
Premier League rules dictate that boys must live within 90 minutes’ travel time of any team they sign for, putting the likes of coastal outfits Sunderland and Liverpool at a disadvantage compared to London clubs.
“That’s something we are looking at,” said Keane. “If you look at our academy, we are restricted in terms of our location.
“You can only bring in kids from a certain area. It’s a certain radius and a lot of our radius is in the water. We have to look at whether there’s any good fish out there.”
If Liverpool are going to improve their catch of youngsters, then the bait, the rod and maybe even the anglers need to be reassessed.
But scratch beneath the surface at Anfield and it’s clear something has to change.
Wednesday’s woeful Carling Cup capitulation at Tottenham Hotspur should have sent the alarm bells ringing throughout the club.
While Arsenal’s youngsters continue to thrill in the competition, Rafael Benitez is evidently finding it a struggle to find any of a similar standard either at home or abroad.
Lacking the financial resources that allowed Arsene Wenger to snap up the cream of the world’s budding talent in recent years, Benitez’s attempts to unearth a rare gem of his own from across the globe means there are nearly 30 youngsters at the club under the age of 23.
Few of those hopefuls realistically have any chance of ever forging a career at Anfield.
However, the alternative production line at the Academy, another profitable source for Wenger, is proving just as fruitless.
After all, why did Benitez see fit to select only one recent homegrown graduate, reserve team skipper Stephen Darby, in the squad for Wednesday’s trip to White Hart Lane in a competition that is a long way last in the manager’s list of priorities?
Of course, this situation hasn’t just happened overnight. Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier was regularly at loggerheads with the Academy over the lack of quality emerging from the Kirkby set-up.
Benitez has used the Carling Cup to give youth its chance at Anfield, most notably on his previous visit to Tottenham in the competition in December 2004 when eight homegrown players made an appearance.
But it’s telling that none are still at the club with only Stephen Warnock plying his trade in the top flight.
Punters who hit the internet message boards and radio phone-ins to lambast Wednesday’s performance as one of the worst they have ever seen from Liverpool certainly have short memories.
Don’t forget, it was less than two years ago that the Anfield outfit were humbled 6-3 at home by Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
Carling Cup exits have proven a watershed during previous seasons under Benitez, particularly for the young hopefuls selected.
After losing at Crystal Palace in 2005, David Raven and Zak Whitbread never played for Liverpool again while Darren Potter made only one further appearance.
And the Arsenal humbling in January 2007 saw a last outing for Lee Peltier, with Danny Guthrie only playing one more time and Gabriel Paletta three times.
It was also a final appearance for Warnock, who joined Blackburn Rovers shortly afterwards.
Ominous signs, then, for the likes of David Ngog, Nabil El Zhar and Damien Plessis, who all played at White Hart Lane.
But the trio weren’t helped by the performances and attitude of some of their senior professionals on Wednesday.
Philipp Degen in particular demonstrated little appetite for the fight and the sight of him hobbling off with yet another injury may be the last time he is seen in a Liver-pool shirt. Darby is surely a better long-term bet.
Liverpool’s Academy may be located six miles from Melwood but it could just as easily be in another country and not just because of the accents that echo around the corridors these days.
Co-operation between the two complexes does not exist, simply cynicism of what each other is trying to achieve when they should be chasing the same goal.
There is no doubt that some people at the Academy will have relished the sight of Ngog, Plessis and El Zhar toiling – which in itself is an even bigger disgrace – without offering up a solution to the problem themselves.
Manchester City can churn out talent and Everton can churn out English talent that, even if they do not prove good enough, would raise some money. Nothing is coming from Kirkby.
Liverpool’s board cannot keep on ignoring the situation by refusing to take sides for fear of upsetting people.
Both sides need shaking up for the common good of the club and it amounts to a dereliction of duty that the status quo is being allowed to fester.
The Academy has other difficulties, as highlighted last month by Sunderland manager Roy Keane.
Premier League rules dictate that boys must live within 90 minutes’ travel time of any team they sign for, putting the likes of coastal outfits Sunderland and Liverpool at a disadvantage compared to London clubs.
“That’s something we are looking at,” said Keane. “If you look at our academy, we are restricted in terms of our location.
“You can only bring in kids from a certain area. It’s a certain radius and a lot of our radius is in the water. We have to look at whether there’s any good fish out there.”
If Liverpool are going to improve their catch of youngsters, then the bait, the rod and maybe even the anglers need to be reassessed.
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